1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a locking golf bag insert having the following features:
1. An integral security system which alerts owners if their clubs are left behind. PA1 2. A system which protects each club from theft. PA1 3. A system which protects the bag from theft. PA1 4. A system which holds each club in a stable position. PA1 5. A system which is friendly to clubs with graphite shafts.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The number of golfers in the United States has increased 7% in the last few years to approximately 26.4 million, and the average number of rounds played has increased by 14.6%. Expenditure on hard goods has increased by 26.7%. Therefore, golfers are still willing to change equipment and buy new products as they become available.
While golf bags represent approximately 8% of dollar sales for off course retailers and 4% for on course retailers, they tend to produce lower margins than other products.
Given the number of manufacturers and the range of bags that each supplies, a large inventory is required by the retailer for products that aesthetically appear quite different but essentially are the same.
While every over possible avenue in the golf industry has been explored and aggressively expanded upon in recent years, golf bag design has surprisingly remained stagnant. Any design improvements have centered around storage spaces and specialized compartments.
Figures obtained from the National Golf Foundation and Golf Shop Operations suggest that golfers are willing to pay higher prices for better quality bags. At this time, no other manufacturer offers a product with the design features of the locking golf bag insert of the present invention.
As will be described in greater detail hereinafter, the present invention relates to a golf bag insert for a golf bag assembly offering total support and protection to a plurality of golf clubs, as well as the bag itself, against theft of individual clubs or the entire bag, against loss of individual clubs arising from negligence by the owner himself/herself, against abrasion damage caused by collision with other clubs within the bag, and finally against rain entering the bag during play. The golf bag insert also provides an organized bag for ease in locating a particular club, removing and replacing the same.
Golf bag manufacturers are constantly researching the design and construction of their products in order to service the continuing advance in golf club technology. For example, within the last five years the number of clubs sold and fitted with graphite shafts and titanium heads has skyrocketed. This in turn has created or at least exacerbated certain problems, namely theft and damage. It is not uncommon for individual clubs to cost $500.00 or more these days. Damage can easily occur in the normal configuration of most gold bags, which usually have a structure placed only at the entrance of the bag to create at best six compartments. This does not offer much protection since the heads and shafts are free to bump and grind together and often can become tangled. This standard configuration does nothing to deflect rain or drizzle from entering the bag and soaking the grips of the clubs.
A variety of devices exist in the prior art to assist in organizing the interior of a golf bag. Examples of some of the analogous and non-analogous bags are disclosed in the following analogous and non-analogous U.S. patents:
______________________________________ U.S. Pat. Nos. Patentee ______________________________________ 4,241,774 Pell 4,332,383 Rader 5,267,660 Kwon 5,392,907 Blanchard, et al. 5,505,300 Joh 5,524,753 Murphy 5,573,112 Kim 5,799,785 Hsu 5,582,043 McCue 5,636,735 Stusek ______________________________________
The Pell U.S. Pat. No. 4,241,774 discloses a foam disc with attached tubes that can be attached inside a golf bag.
The Blanchard et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,392,907 discloses a series of hexagonal tubes forming a honeycomb pattern which can be encased within a golf bag.
The Rader U.S. Pat. No. 4,332,283 discloses an organizer which utilizes tubes that do not require reinforcing.
These devices in today's market are all but obsolete due to operational deficiencies and the change in today's club characteristics.
Other prior art shows the development of similar organizers using soft cloth separators as opposed to the harsher plastic tubes previously cited.
The Joh U.S. Pat. No. 5,505,300 discloses a divider insert which has a plurality of elongated enclosures and hinge flaps which can be used to separate club heads.
The Kwon U.S. Pat. No. 5,267,660 describes an interesting organizer, which has a series of plates which can be used in different configurations.
These devices, while certainly an improvement over the previous golf bags, must be manually operated and require decisions to be made by the golfer in order to be efficient. Their range of protection is also limited.
The Kim U.S. Pat. No. 5,573,112 shows yet another organizer using a cloth interior. This organizer, while preferred, does not solve the main problem associated with organizer bags, i.e. each club in a set of golf clubs has a different length, and so, even if one separates the shafts of each club by giving each club its own compartment, the head of a shorter club can strike the unprotected area of a shaft of a longer club.
The Hsu U.S. Pat. No. 5,799,785 uses a partitioning rack and a club holding member to secure the club head. Again, this design has a number of deficiencies in that it does not utilize the space inside the bag very well. A very large bag would be required in order to accommodate the partitioning rack. It does not accommodate wooden headed clubs which are normally found in a full set of clubs and has no protection against theft.
While the security devices disclosed in the Murphy U.S. Pat. No. 5,524,753, the McCue U.S. Pat. No. 5,582,043 and the Stusek U.S. Pat. No. 5,636,735 undoubtedly perform the task for which they were intended, they all have limitations which reduce their effectiveness.
Other devices known in the industry suffer from similar limitations which include but are not limited to, ease of operation, the device itself can in certain circumstances cause damage, and range of protection. For example, the Stusek U.S. Pat. No. 5,636,735 discloses a device which protects the clubs in an efficient manner but fails to protect the bag itself.
All the aforementioned patents describe devices which are unquestionably beneficial, however, they all operate within limited parameters and solve only certain problems. It is the object the present invention to encompass all described problems and some other difficulties that the prior art has not yet addressed. In this respect, the locking golf bag insert of the present invention offers a wide range of protection for problems previously investigated and also provides for concepts not previously anticipated.